Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2008.8.7

Weekly News in Audio

August 7, 2008

"Radical" Russ Belville
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Join NORML In Berkeley For Our 2008 National Conference Register Today To Take Advantage Of Discounted Rates

Congress Fails To Adopt Appropriations Bill; No Opportunity to Vote on Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment

California: Medical Pot Statute Does Not Conflict With Federal Anti-Drug Laws; San Diego Supervisors To Appeal Ruling

Washington, DC:
Join NORML In Berkeley For Our 2008 National Conference Register Today To Take Advantage Of Discounted Rates

NORML welcomes you to join us in Berkeley, California on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18, for the 2008 national NORML Conference. This year's two-day 'extravaganja,' entitled "It's Not Your Parents' Prohibition," will take place at the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Berkeley's beautiful marina district.

Plenary sessions at the 37th annual conference include:

Getting the Story Wrong: How the Media Lie About Cannabis
The Legal Marijuana Generation: Growing Up In the Age of Legal Pot
The War on Pot Is a War on Young People
What If We Arrested 20 Million Americans and Nobody Noticed?

In addition, on Sunday, October 19, NORML's Legal Committee and the faculty of Oaksterdam University will co-sponsor a special, third-day session, entitled "Cannabusiness 102." This unique, one-day seminar will outline step-by-step how to establish a legal medical marijuana business in the state of California.

Please mark your calendar now and plan to join us as we focus on the latest marijuana policy developments at the state and federal levels, celebrate our victories over the past year, and hear from the world's leading activists and cannabis law reform organizations. Mingle with celebrities and members of NORML's staff and Board of Directors in one of the most cannabis friendly cities in the world.

Additional details about this year's national conference - including discount room reservations, money saving early-bird registrations, travel details, patient accommodations, vending and sponsorship opportunities, conference scheduling, and a guide to NORML social events - are now available online at NORML's 2008 Conference Registration page.

For more information, please call (202) 483-5500.
Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), about this year's NORML Conference.

Washington, DC:
Congress Fails To Adopt Appropriations Bill; No Opportunity to Vote on Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment

For the first time since 2002, the US House of Representatives has failed to agree on an appropriations bill, thereby resulting in a continuing resolution to continue funding federal agencies at current levels until early in the next Congress, and eliminating the opportunity for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to be considered in the current Congress.

The amendment is typically considered by Congress as part of the US Justice Department's annual appropriations bill.

Last year the bi-partisan amendment, sponsored by Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), gathered 165 votes - the highest total ever recorded in a Congressional floor vote to liberalize marijuana laws.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, or Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, at (202) 483-5500.

San Diego, CA:
California: Medical Pot Statute Does Not Conflict With Federal Anti-Drug Laws; San Diego Supervisors To Appeal Ruling

State provisions condoning the therapeutic use of cannabis do not conflict with federal anti-drug laws, the Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled this week.The 3-0 ruling upheld a 2006 Superior Court decision, which found that an amendment to California's Compassionate Use Act that requires counties to issue identification cards to state-authorized medical cannabis patients "does not create a 'positive conflict' [with federal law.]"

Lawmakers from two southern California counties, San Diego and San Bernardino, filed suit in 2006 against San Diego NORML and the state of California, rather than comply with the state-imposed ID card program - alleging that California's medical marijuana law violated the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Opining for the Court, Justice Alex McDonald determined: "The purpose of the [federal law] is to combat recreational drug use, not to regulate a state's medical practices. … Because the [federal] law does not compel the states to impose criminal penalties for marijuana possession, the requirement that counties issue cards identifying those against whom California has opted not to impose criminal penalties does not positive conflict with the US Controlled Substances Act."

San Diego NORML was named because they had publicly threatened to sue the county if the county failed to begin issuing the state ID cards to qualified medical users.

Following the ruling, San Diego County Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.

"This latest appeal is not about politicians seeking clarity in the law; it's about the supervisors opposition to any use of medicinal cannabis," NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup said. "The supervisors' arrogant behavior is an affront to their constituents and a gross waste of taxpayers' dollars."

Justices for the Second District Court of Appeals also ruled last week in a separate decision that state law does not require "a patient to periodically renew a doctor's recommendation regarding medical marijuana use."

For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, at (202) 483-5500.
The case is County of San Diego et al. v. San Diego NORML et al.

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